Navigating U.S. Tariffs via Agile Supply Chain Talent Solutions

By Tyler Gulick

It seems like a new tariff on essential imports from a key global trade partner is being introduced, removed or reintroduced every day through the current U.S. administration. Increases, changes and/or pauses on tariffs for steel, aluminum, pharmaceuticals, electronic goods and other goods and materials are disrupting global trade flows and sparking concerns and confusion across a range of industries.

Era of Disruption: The Impact of Tariffs on Supply Chain and Procurement Staffing

Perhaps no group is more directly affected by this uncertainty than the supply chain and procurement teams that are tasked with navigating this unprecedented and volatile landscape.

According to the Institute for Supply Management’s April Purchasing Managers’ Index, 82% of survey respondent comments were related to tariff concerns as manufacturers struggle to avoid supply chain disruption while keeping up with the U.S. administration’s rapidly changing trade policies.

These measures, and the resulting confusion, have driven operational costs, forced companies to reconsider supplier relationships and increased compliance burdens for procurement teams across industries.

Aerospace, automotive, construction, consumer goods, electronics, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, technology and electronics, construction, steel and aluminum, energy and other industries that rely on intricate, global networks of partners and suppliers must now reevaluate sourcing strategies in real time, often without clear guidance on long-term policy stability.

Smart Workforce Strategies to Counter Supply Chain Disruption

To remain competitive, your company must continually reassess its workforce strategies and ensure you have access to the talent and expertise you need to help navigate today’s complex challenges, while also preparing for what may, or may not, happen tomorrow.

Now more than ever, having an agile hiring plan is essential to adapting to frequent regulatory shifts and maintaining operational momentum by keeping critical projects moving forward, even when long-term headcount is frozen or uncertain. Agile hiring models can help you respond quickly to counter shifting tariff impacts by securing specialized procurement talent faster than a traditional hiring cycle might allow.

Contract staffing from Aston Carter offers a nimble solution to strategically place talent when and where needed. Together, we can develop an actionable workforce strategy to strengthen your stability during this period of unprecedented uncertainty. We can also prepare you to return to a growth strategy when economic conditions eventually stabilize.

In-Demand Supply Chain Talent for a Tariff Economy

The current economic chaos has created a surge in demand for a relatively limited pool of available candidates who have the specialized skills and capabilities supply chain and procurement teams demand, particularly financial analysts, trade compliance specialists and sourcing specialists.

Finding these skilled individuals with regional expertise and existing supplier relationships can be difficult for smaller or mid-sized companies that lack a global vendor network, even in less uncertain times.

Partnering with Aston Carter on a tailored supply chain staffing solution offers rapid access to specialized, right-fit candidates, so you can focus on preparing your company to avoid supply chain disruption now without losing sight of what happens next.

What to Look For When Hiring Contract Supply Chain Talent

Instead of simply filling gaps, finding and hiring the right candidates right now is essential to ensuring sustainable operations. Aston Carter can help you identify candidates across a range of critical roles with in-demand skills, including:

• Financial analysts with experience using Power BI, Tableau, Excel and other powerful data visualization tools and advanced modeling to evaluate multiple cost scenarios, simulate tariff impacts and transform data into actionable insights that help guide executive-level accounting and finance decisions.


• Trade compliance specialists with direct experience in import compliance within new and unfamiliar target countries or regions, as well as extensive knowledge of harmonized tariffs and international commercial terms (incoterms), to interpret and help you respond to evolving import/export regulations.


• Strategic sourcing professionals with successful sourcing and negotiation skills tailored to specific regions or product categories to help identify and negotiate with alternative suppliers in tariff-free or lower-tariff markets.

Current uncertainty and volatility make finding the best candidates to help meet today’s challenges without compromising tomorrow’s success more important and more challenging than ever. Leveraging a staffing partner that emphasizes both candidate quality and speed to hire is critical.

Aston Carter’s Strategic Value in a Tariff Economy

Aston Carter’s custom talent for supply chain management solutions provide flexibility by allowing companies to fill immediate gaps within their teams with qualified procurement talent while avoiding long-term headcount commitments, or possible future layoffs, in an uncertain world. We provide a consultative partnership, working closely with you and your supply chain and procurement teams to understand operational challenges and workforce goals. As a result, our recruitment strategies are tailored to align with your evolving needs.

Pairing Breadth and Depth

Our dedicated recruiting teams specialize in supply chain verticals and are deeply entrenched in the nuanced requirements of trade compliance, sourcing and analytics roles. However, unlike smaller boutique talent firms that specialize only in sourcing roles, Aston Carter offers both breadth and depth with a unique ability to serve multi-site clients and deliver customized supply chain staffing solutions across geographies. Our unique combination of targeted specialization and national scale provides you access to a wider pool of candidates with industry-specific expertise.

Prioritizing Speed and Fit

Aston Carter recruiters maintain a network of specialized professionals, which decreases time-to-fill and ensures high-quality placements — delivering fast access to skilled professionals and individuals aligned with your culture, operations and strategic objectives. This strategic alignment minimizes onboarding time and helps to avoid supply chain disruption while maximizing supply chain resilience.

A Competitive Path Forward for Supply Chain Staffing

In these unprecedented times, companies should consider initiating supply chain and procurement contract roles even if headcount increases are on hold.

Organizations that engage early and plan ahead will have a competitive edge over competitors that delay talent acquisition and must scramble later to meet new demands as the economic landscape evolves and improves.

This approach can look different depending on your organization’s needs. For example, you might assign one of your on-staff experts to oversee vendor diversification and strategic planning while we supplement your internal team with a contract hire to push day-to-day procurement operations forward. Alternatively, Aston Carter can embed contract import compliance or sourcing experts to support trade assessments, vendor evaluations and short-term supply chain redesigns while your existing internal team maintains responsibility for everyday procurement duties.

Contract staffing today enables you to meet the day’s challenges while also helping you minimize ramp-up time when things settle and growth resumes.

The Cost of Waiting

The current scattershot approach to tariffs and trade policy shouldn’t be ignored. In addition to disruptions in your daily operations today, inaction at this critical economic juncture could have significant long-term consequences for your supply chain and procurement teams:

• Delayed compliance → Expensive regulatory fines
• Limited sourcing coverage → Supply chain disruptions and missed sourcing and procurement opportunities
• Lack of workforce planning → Extended ramp-up periods when conditions improve

Adaptation as a Supply Chain Workforce Strategy Beyond Tariffs

Integrating contract supply chain talent with your internal staff is a strategic approach that allows for adaptability and the ability to evolve with frequent, unanticipated, regulatory and economic shifts. Forward-looking hiring managers treat workforce planning as a form of risk management in the face of any uncertainty — not just tariff conditions.

Aston Carter offers access to exceptional talent, market insights and a consultative approach to help your organization address the tariffs situation head-on and remain future-ready to navigate any type of economic storm.

Contact Aston Carter today to discuss how contract talent could support your urgent supply chain and procurement needs as the volatile tariff economy continues to evolve.